The fabric of the present invention is particularly suited to applications in which it is desired to provide a body-contacting fabric surface covering a moisture absorbing layer. A typical product requiring such a combination is a bed pad, or an incontinence garment. Conventionally, fabrics for these products have been manufactured by quilting together a face fabric such as a hydrophobic polyester knit and a soaker layer such as a non-woven hydrophillic needlepunch. Material manufactured in this way is capable of absorbing a large amount of moisture, but does not feel dry to the touch, because the face fabric, while hydrophilic, lies directly on the soaker material. Accordingly, if the soaker material is saturated, a wet feel will be transmitted to the surface of the face fabric. Moreover, such quilted material is costly to manufacture since it requires two separate manufacturing processes, one for each of the soaker and the face materials, and a separate quilting operation.
There have been attempts made, in the textile industry, to provide a fabric with a hydrophilic face and a hydrophillic face, thereby to produce a material capable of absorbing a significant quantity of moisture, while remaining dry to the touch. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,600 (Byles) a textile fabric with opposed absorbent and non-absorbent layers is described, which comprises a hydrophilic yarn formed in a raised surface construction at one face of the fabric, and a hydrophilic yarn formed in a dense extended pile at the opposite face of the fabric, and a ground yarn between these two layers formed in a dimensionally stable construction. Dry feel is provided by the raised surface construction of the hydrophilic yarn layer. The disadvantage of such a construction, however, is that it does not provide a significant volume in association with the hydrophilic yarn layer, because the ground yarn layer is relatively flat. Accordingly, moisture accumulating in the hydrophillic layer may tend to migrate to the hydrophilic layer, especially if subjected to tactile pressure.
Other knitted fabrics attempting to take advantage of the different properties of hydrophilic and hydrophillic yarns or filaments and/or yarns of varying denier are described in Canadian Patent No. 2,170,976 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,546. Knitted fabrics utilizing a stitch that spaces apart a front and back face of a fabric for providing an insulating layer or high loft feel to a fabric are described in Canadian Patent No. 2,115,505 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,036. The prior art does not, however, describe a knit fabric with a hydrophilic face spaced from a hydrophobic face by low density columnar stitches extending between the two faces to provide a relatively voluminous space between the two for water retention and air circulation.
The object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a lightweight, highly absorbent knitted fabric.
A further object is to provide a knitted fabric with a highly absorbent, hydrophilic face, and a dry feeling hydrophobic face, spaced apart from one another by a low density, but relatively thick layer of columnar stitches. The low density layer of columnar stitches provides a space for air circulation between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic faces, and provides additional space for retention of excess moisture when the holding capacity of the hydrophilic layer is completely utilized. In this way, even at full capacity for holding moisture, the hydrophobic dry face of the fabric is held out of contact with the accumulated moisture, and will maintain a dry feel to the touch.
In a broad aspect, then, the present invention relates to a knitted fabric comprising a layer of hydrophilic yarn on one face of said fabric, a layer of hydrophilic yarn on the opposite face of said fabric, and a pillar stitched, low density layer of yarn extending between and joining said hydrophillic and hydrophilic yarn.